A Very Merry Christmas!
THE CHOWANIAN
Volume 6 — Number 3
Chowan College, Murfreesboro, N. C.
December 1957
®l|f PrpHiipnt’s OIlfnatntaH iHpsaagf
It is not easy in our day to wade through the frills at this season of
the year to the true meaning of Christmas. Our vision is fogged by the
commercialized approach and atmosphere which pervades our thinking
and activity.
It is my hope and prayer that this year, every member of our col
lege community shall have his heart strangely warmed and lighted.
Christmas has its levels, and sad it is when not all of these levels are
seen and lived upon.
I. There is the level of good cheer. A time of gaiety and gladness
must not be despised by any, seeing that our burdens are often large
and the way we must go is sometimes a lonely one. As we approach
this Christmas, let us thank God for a season of lightness and friend
ship and happy groups gathered together before the fire.
II. There is, also, the level og good will. Neither an individual nor
the world can be made whole by good cheer alone. Our day and hour
calls for something more than merely “Merry Gentlemen.” We must
be men of good will. No lesser balm than good will can heal men and
nations. The angels’ promise of peace and good will among men, re
ceived so gratefully by the shepherds of the long ago, speaks to a basic
human hunger and need. And yet, our own tongues cannot speak the
language of peace and good will unless we are moved to do so by God
Himself. Christmas, then, is a time of re-dedication to God and His plan
for human brotherhood.
III. The most important level of Christmas, however, is good news.
To stop short of God’s good news is to halt somewhere this side of Beth
lehem’s manger. And this is the difficulty of our time—that there are
those who take the journey toward Christmas and never truly arrive,
those who attend the feast and know not the Host nor why it is given.
“The great good news for all is that once One was sent to be light in
darkness, hope in our desire, a guide for our pilgrimage.” To under
stand this central truth of Christmas is to know that no man need walk
alone through this earth, that in all our journeying there is Emmanuel,
God with us.
My earnest prayer for all who are members of our college family,
and for all people everywhere is this: May this Christmastide mean for
each of you, minds and hearts deeply touched and strangely stirred by
good will and good news!
Bruce E. Whitaker
President